It's coming! It's coming!

Christmas is coming! And no, the irony is not lost on me---that I'm pretty much obsessed with Christmas and yet not religious :-P But I simply love snow and Christmas music and Christmas trees and Santa and presents and reindeer and Christmas lights and Christmas parties and hot chocolate and festive holiday clothing and and and and.....Everything!

And yes, I do understand why people complain about Christmas music playing before Thanksgiving and the frustration that people almost skip over Thanksgiving and go straight from Halloween to Christmas....the same things annoy me.

BUT ...

Christmas sneaks up so fast! And last year I was mad at myself about a couple things because I kept thinking I would worry about it after Thanksgiving was over, but then I was completely unprepared when Christmas started on black friday! (Yes, Christmas officially begins on Black Friday---actually Thanksgiving night at my house :-P) So this year I'm prepared! And in case any of you are in the same situation consider this your warning to prepare yourself as well!

The first thing I was mad about last year was dropping the ball on The Elf on the Shelf . In case you are unfamiliar with this, it's basically an overpriced book and elf doll  set haha. But it's the "in" thing this time of year and it's a must have for us! The premise is that  Santa sends one of his elves to your house and the elf watches the children's behavior during the day and reports back  to Santa each night. Oftentimes the elf gets into lots of mischief during the night a nd then when the kids  wake up each morning they see the crazy situations he's gotten in to! Last year I never got around to ordering this before Thanksgiving, but last night I ordered it! Go me :-) We even paid the extra $5 to get the fancy skirt so that our Elf is very girlie hehe.

Based on the book there is really only one "rule"....that you must never touch the elf! But the other "rules" are pretty much made up by each family. So far my plan is that after Thanksgiving our elf will arrive. When the girls wake up the next morning they will  discover her and we will read the book  and  talk about why she's here! Then I will  let them name her. Each morning after that they will wake up and have to look for the elf (she has to move each night to prove that she really went to the North Pole to tell Santa about their behavior!) ....and I'm already brainstorming some fun places and situations they can find her in :-) So stay tuned because I'll be sharing my ideas here on the blog!

The second thing I was mad about last year was waiting so long to do Christmas  cards and feeling rushed to get them out. So as I mentioned in a previous post I made mine already, and today they arrived! Here's another little tease for you ;-)

The  third thing is presents. So actually last  year I thought I did pretty good....but  I wanted to duplicate that again this year. As much as I like to bargain shop for the girls' clothing, when it comes to Christmas presents I just don't care. I hate black friday shopping, crowds, driving all over town price comparing to save $2, etc. So I pretty much have ordered everything for the girls already and I ordered it all on Amazon.  You get free shipping and their prices are gernerally pretty good. When I price checked there were often stores that sold the same item $3 cheaper, but it wasn't worth me placing various orders to save a couple bucks! And I don't care if I could save $20 on something by waiting until black  friday---I will gladly pay twice the price to avoid that craziness :-)

So other than the kitchen set I already mentioned they are getting from Santa, I got them each some legos (can you believe we don't own any legos?! They love playing with them when we go places. And I got *pink* girly lego sets lol...Love having two girls and not having to worry about keeping the toys gender neutral anymore for hypothetical subsequent children :-)

I also got them each a game---these two games seemed really fun! Minnie Mouse Bowtique Bingo  and then Disney Princess Cupcake Party Game

And  lastly (trying not to buy too many presents  this year because last year they lost interest opening them all! I think they'll just want to play with their kitchen on Christmas morning anyways) but I did buy this last thing--- a kid's tv remote  I think Raya  will  LOVE this. You can program it with 7 channels and then little kids can  turn on their own shows and change their own channels just by pushing one button! I hope that now when Raya wakes up early in the morning she can just  go turn on her  own show :-)

The  fourth  thing is doing countdown to Christmas books! We did this last year, but  I didn't have quite enough books and I waited until the last minute to wrap them all haha...so this year I've  already started! The girls love picking the book each night so I don't number them to read in a certain order like some people do. I just wrap them all up and each night they pick one to open---and then it's a surprise! And we read it before bed. I have enough books now to start right after Thanksgiving ...got most of them second hand or at the book outlet store.

So that's the list  of productive things I've been  up to! haha. Bring on the holidays!

To end, I have a ton of random pics for past days, so here is some cuteness and fashion shows....have a great Saturday everyone!

In Gymboree loungewear

She did  some crazy self styling--Gymboree with  Children's Place  hat!

Mini Boden

Heading to dance class!

Naartjie

Brielle is  in Gap

Crazy 8 corduroy trench coat! (Check  out the  nasty  yellow bruise by  her eye---she's run into our coffee table about 3 times this week lol)

Lastly, a quick plug for buying ahead this time of year. All the stores are clearancing out their  summer stuff like crazy right now! If you are a smart shopper you will buy the spring/summer wardrobe for your kids right now! I think it's funny when people assume I spend a lot on namebrand clothing and then they turn around  and buy Walmart mix and match for $4 a piece thinking they are getting great deals. This was my Crazy 8 order I got recently and all of those shirts and skirts? Just $2-3 each! (I stacked a coupon on their clearance). Cheaper than Walmart and much  cuter too. Plus I'll resell it when I'm done for pretty much the same I paid, while Walmart  is disposable :-)

Although be warned,  the crazy 8 big  girl tshirts are running small! All  the stuff I bought ahead for Brielle looks perfect for summer, but the tshirts in the top right for Raya I got size 5 in the big girl section, and they fit her right now. Oh well....for $2 they aren't  worth taking back! We'll just wear them now and pass them on to Brielle.